Jake Paul (L) and Cedric Doumbe
Jake Paul has announced he will fight MMA star Cedric Doumbe on December 24 in Dubai, his first bout since a heavy defeat to Anthony Joshua last December.
The American suffered a broken jaw in that loss, requiring two titanium plates and the removal of some teeth.
In May, the 29-year-old influencer said his boxing career was “most definitely” in doubt after the injury, but he will now return to action on Christmas Eve.
The fight will take place at the Coca-Cola Arena and is a professionally sanctioned eight-round cruiserweight contest, with both fighters using 10oz gloves.
Doumbe, a Cameroonian-born Frenchman, is a multi-time kickboxing world champion turned MMA fighter.
The 34-year-old is signed to the Professional Fighters League (PFL), which merged with Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) in July. He has won two of his three fights since joining the PFL in 2023, but has only one professional boxing bout to his name, a win in 2015.
Paul has won 12 of his 14 professional fights, with defeats to Tommy Fury and Joshua. In July 2025, he earned a place in the WBA cruiserweight rankings after beating former world champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but lost it in January following the Joshua defeat.
In that fight, he was knocked down twice by the British two-time heavyweight world champion before being stopped in the sixth round.